LEADing FOR GROWTH AND CHANGE

Context

Leading success today almost always requires the ability to grow and change organizations to leverage emerging opportunities. We all face an uncertain future with evolving customer needs, emerging technologies, and new competitors. But uncertainty doesn’t have to be seen as a problem to overcome – the best, most successful leaders see an uncertain future as an opportunity to learn, imagine, innovate, and grow more quickly than the competition.

Through our research we have discovered that the best way for leaders to respond to grow and change organizations is often by engaging others in a series of swift, smart, small action steps to quickly understand new realities, imagine potential futures, test new ideas with customers and key stakeholders, and learn from the results. By learning quickly through action and experimentation, these leaders generate small, early wins that help them uncover new opportunities, inspire and enroll more people in their efforts and create value for stakeholders. When the potential of the idea or opportunity is clear, these leaders augment their learning from swift, smart action with analysis, planning and execution to ultimately create value and grow their organizations.

Program Overview

Leading for Growth and Change is an intensive three-day program designed to help managers become more productive, high-impact leaders who can learn fast, act quickly, enroll others, create value, enable growth, and drive change in their organizations.

Unlike other leadership development programs that focus mostly on interpersonal skills, Leading for Growth and Change is designed to build a growth and change mindset in leaders. Whether you’re competitive advantage is innovation, world-class customer service, improved efficiency, or low cost, this program will help you learn how to grow and change organizations by being more entrepreneurial, more innovative and quicker to market in a rapidly changing and competitive world.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the program, participants should be more equipped to:

Understand themselves and their role as growth and change leaders in their organization

Learn to lead from the future (instead of from past experiences)

Take action to learn quickly in uncertain, dynamic environments

Rapidly identify ideas and opportunities, and quickly test these ideas and opportunities with customers, employees, and other key stakeholders

Enroll and bring others along to develop and support new opportunities

Manage risk through a series of small, smart actions

Anticipate and address the organizational challenges that come with rapid growth and change

Develop these growth and change skills in direct reports, teams, and organizations

Curriculum

The program is designed to help participants develop a growth and change mindset, develop and refine key entrepreneurial leadership skills, and apply these skills to existing leadership challenges. We use a variety of highly-interactive learning experiences, including simulations, role-plays, design exercises, case discussions, and frequent application to participants' own projects.

Program topics include:

Growth and Change Fundamentals

An introduction to Babson’s logic of Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® and the benefits of balancing experimentation and action with planning and analysis. Participants take stock of their existing capabilities for entrepreneurial leadership – what they want, what they know, and who they know.

Leading from the Future

Design Thinking

Understanding how to identify design challenges, brainstorm ideas, and rapidly prototype new ideas that speed learning and drive growth

Growth and Change Through Smart Action

Building the capability to take a series of swift, smart action steps in organizations in ways that balance rapid learning with acceptable risk. Participants learn to embrace failure as a learning opportunity.

Enrolling Others

Learning how to use leadership and influence to gather the information, resources, and support needed to pursue new opportunities, build momentum, and drive change.

Developing and Leading Growth and Change-Oriented Teams

Learning how to develop and promote a growth and change mindset in work groups and within organizations.

Applying Growth and Change Leadership Back at Work

Before, during, and after the program, participants apply these leadership ideas to a specific project or idea they are currently developing.

Participant Mix

Leading for Growth and Change is designed for experienced managers who are actively leading projects and teams, whether in startups or large, established organizations. All participants should come willing and ready to apply program ideas and concepts to a specific idea or project they are currently considering or developing.

About the Faculty Director

Dr. Keith Rollag is an Associate Professor of Management at Babson College. His teaching focuses on organizational behavior, teamwork and leadership, and his research focuses primarily on newcomer socialization and training, organizational culture, social networks and leadership development.

Professor Rollag has published articles in MIT/Sloan Management Review, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Journal of Management Education, and Contingent Workforce Strategies. His research has also been featured in Harvard Management Update, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Wired News, IEEE Spectrum, New Venture Development, and the Boston Business Journal. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, he was a product development manager at Procter & Gamble.​​​​​